


Between The Lines

by chellifromearth



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Tower, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Comfort, Cute, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Sleeping Together, Sleepy Cuddles, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, colouring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-06-02
Packaged: 2018-06-08 16:23:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6862870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chellifromearth/pseuds/chellifromearth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve and Bucky are alone for a week, and find colouring to be a good use of their time until the other Avengers return.</p><p>  <i>This fic is set after CATWS, and is as if Steve found Bucky a little sooner and AOU never happened (which is what should have happened lol)</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Between The Lines

Avengers Tower had started to feel a lot more empty in the first few weeks of Spring. Tony and Pepper were out on official business, Thor back on Asgard, Bruce in his lab and Clint and Natasha spying on bad guys in the Middle East. The sun had started to rise earlier in the morning, the sky looking a little less grey every day when the curtains were thrown open. The weather seemed to be warming up too, a sign of good things yet to come. Neither Steve nor Bucky were big fans of the cold for obvious reasons, so the sight of the sun peeking from behind the clouds or blossoms starting to bloom on the trees was a rather welcome one.

“Hey Buck, I got you something while I was out at the store.”

Bucky's head lifted curiously as he heard his name being called from the other side of the room, over by the kitchenette. Sprawled out on the couch, he had spent most of the day catching up on 'Making a Murderer' on Netflix. He'd been hooked on the show ever since Natasha had recommended to him and wondered if the case would ever be finally solved, everything becoming a conspiracy and even starting a few large scale debates. Steve had arrived home and was dropping his brown paper grocery bags onto the work surfaces, starting to unpack the shopping into the nearly empty cupboards and refrigerator. He must have realised that they had been living on nothing but instant ramen for a week, and gone to the store.

“Is it a dog?” Grey-blue eyes shone with innocence as the dark haired man beamed up at the Captain, finally sitting upright as his interest had piqued.

There had been several hints dropped recently, mostly from Bucky, about adopting a dog from a local shelter. It had seemed like a good idea at first, but Steve had told him it was a big responsibility and that it needed a lot more thought. Clint had been behind the idea from the beginning, explaining that a therapy dog could have worked wonders for Bucky's recovery – he had his own dog, a Labrador named Lucky that ate pizza and was missing an eye.

“No, it's not a dog.” Steve replied with a small sigh and an eye roll.

That was when he wandered over and presented a book, holding it out for Bucky to take in his own time. Hopefully he appreciated the sentiment. After giving the other a confused look, Bucky's eyes scanned over the cover, picking up the hints of gold on the paperback first, then an image of a ship with sails and a treasure chest nestled in all sorts of marine algae. What was all of this about? Were they giving each other gifts?

 

_LOST OCEAN_

_An Inky Adventure & Colouring Book_

 

Bucky began to flick through the pages idly, a small smile stretching across his lips as he admired the intricate patterns; the shapes of fish, coral and shells. This was cute. Running a thumb against the edge of the paper, he looked back up at Steve, wondering why he had returned from the grocery store with colouring books, crayons and markers.

“Aren't colouring books for kids?”

“It's supposed to be therapeutic, and it should give us something to do while we've got a little time off. I got markers and crayons for us to use. I also remembered how much you liked watching The Little Mermaid.”

Having immersed himself in pop culture, Steve knew quite a bit more than Bucky when it came to everything 21st century. He'd seen the small notebook he carried around with him when he was out, it had been filled with things to look up on the internet whenever he got home. This way, he could start to understand some of the nicknames Stark gave people on a regular basis. Bucky was more focused on getting all of his memories back for the time being, but that didn't stop him from curling up in a blanket on the couch watching all of the Star Wars movies on a rainy day.

Bucky's smile turned into a fully fledged grin at the mention of The Little Mermaid. He had enjoyed the songs and Sebastian the crab had made him laugh on several occasions. It had been a while since he had watched an animated movie – Snow White had been released before war had broken out, and he had taken Steve to a screening in the city. Of course, Steve had gotten into a fight in the alley behind the theatre.

“Come on, move over.”

Steve nudged Bucky so that he could slump next to him on the couch, his own colouring book in his hands. This one was titled 'Secret Garden' and had lots of different flowers and plants to look at. Their bodies were now pressed up against each other, knees touching and elbows bumping every so often when they both reached down to pick up another crayon, hands interlocking when they tried to pick the same colour from the pack.

Everything Steve did was in order, making sure the whole page was coloured before he turned to the next one. The blonde had always had a talent, even when they were kids back in Brooklyn. He had an eye for colour and shading and managed to make everything look much more realistic. Bucky, however, flicked between pages when he became bored, starting a new image each time. He liked the plants, filling in the fiddly shapes with a dartmouth green coloured crayon that was nearing the end of its use, before being distracted by a crown nestled inside a treasure chest full of soon to be golden coins.

The colouring continued late into the night after Steve had cooked up a large pot of macaroni cheese for dinner, making nearly enough to feed all of the Avengers for at least a week, even with impressive appetites of two super soldiers and a demi-god. Both men wolfed down their plates, emptying them of the stodgy meal, before feeling ever so slightly full and setting them down onto the coffee table, then continuing their pictures in complete silence.

They fell asleep wrapped in each others arms - as if tangled together like one of the giant soft pretzels in Coney Island back in the 30s, mouths wide open as their chests expanded in sync with every breath taken. For the first time in a very long time, everything in the tower was silent, lights dimmed to a dull glow in order so that the two men could sleep in peace. That was until large, futuristic looking doors parted with a soft mechanical whirr, admitting a certain boisterous billionaire and his CEO.

“Is anyone home?” Tony chirped, a weary grin on his face as he sauntered back inside through a very well concealed door.

Large circular bulbs dotted along the walls of the corridor entering Avengers Tower flickered to life, illuminating the way to the rest of the building, sectioning off into other doorways and floors hidden in the depths of their new home. Pepper groaned slightly as she massaged the back of her neck, moving her hand back and forth in circular motions to try and soothe the strained muscles. Kicking off black Christian Louboutins, a sigh escaped her as the pressure was taken off of her heels and her feet sank to the cold tiled floor. Spending so long hunched over a desk, attending numerous meetings all week hadn't exactly been the vacation she was expecting.

“Welcome back, Mr. Stark and Miss Potts. How was your trip? You both appear to be rather tired. Is there anything I can do to help?” JARVIS boomed through the foyer, as if a god was speaking to them from within the walls and ceiling. His voice was a cool formal lilt, a refreshing change to all of the shouting politicians they'd been forced to listen to for hours on end all week.

“We're fine, JARVIS. Cup of coffee wouldn't go amiss right now. Are Cap and Barnes still here? Have they been giving you any trouble?”

There had been the incident with the toaster, or the time they had set off JARVIS' emergency protocols, and the million other times they had touched things they had been explicitly been told not to touch. It had taken time for them to get used to this century's gadgets and appliances, having just mastered the smartphone, and Tony had been trying to get Bucky to use a hoverboard after Clint had shown him some dumb videos online. No luck yet.

“Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes are sleeping in the lounge, Sir. Would you like me to wake them and inform them of your arrival?”

“That won't be necessary, JARVIS. Let them sleep, they can tell us about their adventures in the morning.” Pepper answered quickly, barely letting JARVIS finish his sentence as she passed the lounge, before doing a double take and tip toeing into the room.

Catching a glimpse of the two super soldiers curled up together on the couch, the strawberry blonde smiled as she grabbed a thick fleece blanket from a leather armchair. It filled her with happiness to see that the men were so peaceful, that they had been reunited after being ripped away from each other for nearly a century. Draping the blanket over both Steve and Bucky, she was careful not to wake them while Tony continued to stomp around, turning on the coffee machine, retrieving cups from the cupboard...

“Tony, come to bed. Your inventions can wait until tomorrow. Sweet dreams, you two.”

Pepper switched off the lights before she yanked Tony out of the lounge by his loosely knotted tie, leaving the freshly brewed coffee to go cold in the glass pot. All was silent in Avengers Tower, at least for a couple more hours.

 

**Author's Note:**

> That's it folks! I hope you enjoyed reading some fluff (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated, and if you'd like, you can also follow me on [Tumblr!](http://winterboners.tumblr.com/)


End file.
